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President Obama’s rejection of a pipeline to bring more Canadian oil to the United States is enormously revealing. He sided with the environmental lobby, a major Democratic interest group, over the majority of Americans who favor the job-creating pipeline. And that’s not all.

The thinker.

But first let’s dispose of Obama’s complaint he didn’t have enough time to determine the pipeline wouldn’t damage the environment. In truth, he had more than three years. The State Department twice determined the pipeline to be environmentally safe. And the project’s builders had promised to re-route the pipeline to avoid sensitive areas in Nebraska.

Here are a dozen of the choices represented by the president’s decision to turn down a permit for the pipeline.

1) The Middle East over Canada.2) Unfriendly countries over a close ally.3) Troubled ties with Canada over good relations.4) A vulnerable oil supply over a secure one.5) Higher oil prices over lower prices.6) Spill-prone tankers over a safer pipeline.7) China (who will likely get the oil) over the U.S.8) Unavailable green fuel over a plentiful fossil fuel.9) Ideology over prudence.10) The political left over the center and right.11) Partisanship over bipartisanship.12) Liberal, anti-pipeline public unions over private unions seeking jobs.

Few of Obama’s decisions have been quite so revealing. There’s little doubt anymore about how Obama is running for reelection this year—it’s from the left.